A.M. Best Downgrades Rating of Centurion Life; Assigns Issuer Credit Rating.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR (Free System Resource) In Windows 3.x, the amount of unused memory in various 64K blocks reserved for managing current applications. Every open window takes some space in this area. See Windows memory limitation. ) to A (Excellent) from A+ (Superior) of Centurion Life Insurance Company (CLIC CLIC Centre Local d'Information et de Coordination (French) CLiC Climate and Cryosphere (World Climate Research Programme project, Norway) CLIC Compact Linear Collider CLIC Connecticut Licensing Information Center ) (Des Moines, IA). The rating outlook has been revised to stable from negative. Additionally, A.M. Best has assigned an issuer credit rating (ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition or Image Character Recognition) The machine recognition of hand-printed characters as well as machine printing that is difficult to recognize. ) of "a" to CLIC. This rating has a stable outlook. These rating actions reflect CLIC's limited new business activity, traditionally mono-line credit insurance product focus and its growing reliance on reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. business for premium growth. The continued low direct premium activity from the credit insurance business is reflective of the company's modest business profile. In addition, A.M. Best notes that the growth opportunity in the credit insurance market has eroded considerably in recent years due to changes in regulatory and predatory lending laws. CLIC has recently entered the individual fixed annuity Fixed Annuity An insurance contract in which the insurance company makes fixed dollar payments to the annuitant for the term of the contract, usually until the annuitant dies. The insurance company guarantees both earnings and principal. marketplace, which A.M. Best views as highly competitive and subject to interest rate risk. While the levels of new direct premium activity have recently increased, CLIC's modest business profile is not consistent with companies rated in the "Superior" FSR category. These ratings continue to acknowledge CLIC's extremely strong risk-adjusted capital position and consistent profitability on both a statutory and GAAP GAAP See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP See generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). basis. For Best's Ratings, an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings. For current Best's Ratings, independent data and analysis on more than 1,100 individual life/health companies and A.M. Best groups, please visit www.ambest.com/lh. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com. |
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